In Session 7, we conclude our discussion of the creation and fall of the angels and more forward with the state of man before the Fall, the Fall itself and the reality of Sin, and the effects of the Fall.
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The City of God
By St Augustine of Hippo
Session 7, Original Sin and Death
The gods of the nations are demons. (Ps 95)
Glorious things are said of thee, o City of God! (Ps
86)
Note on
schedule: A break for a few weeks until October, then continuing every week until
Advent. In our next series of classes through October, we will study Books XV-XVIII:
the story of the Scriptures from Adam to Abraham to Moses to David and finally
to our Lord.
I. Review
of the Fall
A. Angels
and men created in the state of grace
B. The
Fall
II. Sin
and death
A. The
nature of the first sin
1.
Consider St Augustine’s discussion of the theft of the pear in Confessions
2. Man
does not choose evil in itself, but only some lesser good in a disordered way
B. The
perplexity of death
1. The
death of the soul through loss of grace, then of the body through loss of life.
2. There
is the “first death” which is bodily death, and there is the “second death”
which is hell. But for the redeemed, the first death leads to eternal life.
3. As man
rebelled against God, so too the body/passions rebel against the soul –
concupiscence
III.
Original Sin, propagation, polygenism
A. What
is original sin? “The hereditary stain with which we are born on account of our
descent from Adam.” (Catholic Encyclopedia)
“The deliberate sin of the first man is the cause of original sin.” (St
Augustine in De Nupt. et Concup.)
Had Adam
not sinned, he would have passed down grace and the preternatural gifts to all
his children – there would have been no death.
But, losing grace and the gifts, and punished with death, he passes down
a wounded nature without grace – and death enters the world.
B. How is
original sin passed down? The Catholic Church has no official teaching on the
specifics of how original sin is passed down, except that it is by propagation
and not merely by imitation. St Augustine emphasizes the sin and concupiscence
involved in even marital relations, St Thomas will refine this – original sin
is not passed merely because of lust in sexual relations but because of “the
active power in generating”.
C.
Supplement: Why can’t we believe in polygenism? Death came through one man,
Adam; redemption came through one man, Jesus Christ. All were present in Adam,
all sinned in Adam – but if there were multiple first parents, then this would
seem to challenge the doctrine of original sin.
IV. Why
doesn’t God take away the punishment for sin after baptism? Why do babies die
after baptism?
A. Even
after baptism, men still die – thus the effects of baptism are known only by
faith and not by sight.
B. St
Augustine’s meditations on how death and sin, and how in the New Law death
leads to eternal life. See Book XIII, chapters 3-8.
“For then
[under the Old Law] it was proclaimed to man, ‘If thou sinnest, thou shalt
die;’ now [under the Gospel] it is said to the martyr, ‘Die, that thou sin
not.’” (XIII, 4)
“Not that
death, which was before an evil, has become something good, but only that God
has granted to faith this grace, that death, which is the admitted opposite to
life, should become the instrument by which life is reached.” (XIII, 4)
“And
regarding what happens after death, it is no absurdity to say that death is
good to the good, and evil to the vil. For the disembodied spirits of the just
are at rest; but those of the wicked suffer punishment till their bodies rise
again – those of the just to life everlasting, and of the others to death
eternal, which is called the second death.” (XIII, 8)
V.
Recommended reading for Books XV-XVIII (about
101 pages)
A. Book
XV – From Cain and Abel to the great Flood
(26 pages)
Chapters
1-10, Of the two Cities, Cain and Abel and the Giants before the Flood
Chapters
12, 14-16, Of the great ages of the early men and the question of marriage of
relatives
Chapter
22, The “sons of God” and “daughters of men”
Chapters
26-27, The Ark
B. Book
XVI – From Noah to Abraham and down through the Judges (22 pages)
Chapters
1-4, From the Flood to the Tower of Babel
Chapters
7-9, Various questions about the natural world in relation to the Creation and
the Flood
Chapters
16-21, The three promises God made to Abraham
Chapters
22-26, 31-32, Various moments in Abraham’s life
Chapters
35-37, 39, Jacob and Esau
Chapter
43, Moses
C. Book
XVII – From David through the Kings and Prophets (23 pages)
Chapters
1-3, Of the prophecies of the Old Testament
Chapter 4,
Samuel the Prophet
Chapter
6, King Saul
Chapter
8, King David
Chapter
14-17, Of the Psalms
Chapter
20, King Solomon
D. Book
XVIII – Comparison of Sacred History with World History, the Gospel and Age of
the Apostles (20 pages)
Chapter
1, Summary of the preceding books
Chapters
28-30, 34-35, Prophecies about Christ and the Church
Chapters
42-43, Of the Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old Testament
Chapters
46-53, Of the Birth of Jesus, his Gospel, the preaching of the Apostles and the
spread of the Church until the final great persecution at the end of time
V.
Recommended listening on LibriVox for Books XV-XVIII (about 6 hours)
Book XV,
Chapters 1-7, 8-14, 22-27
Book XVI,
Chapters 1-8, 21-31, 32-43
Book
XVII, Chapters 1-4, 5-8, 9-16
Book
XVIII, Chapters 32-39, 40-47, 48-54
